QUEENS, N.Y. - Kacee Cox and Chrissy Montez each had three RBI and Kat Lawrence tossed a five-inning shutout to lead the St. John’s softball team to an 8-0, five inning victory over Fairfield its home opener Wednesday at Red Storm Field.

“I was extremely pleased with our overall team effort came out to play,” fourth-year head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. “Obviously, our offense was great. We stayed within our individual plans and then the team’s plans. We came through with no outs, with one out, with two outs. So there was a lot of clutch hitting that was going on. It was nice to see that people were staying within themselves and doing their jobs.”

The Red Storm (10-10) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out and Chelsea Durning on second, Cox hammered a 0-1 pitch to right center for an RBI double that put STJ up 1-0. In the next at-bat, Montez reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw and Cox moved to third base. Kristi Cady followed with a walk to load the bases for Stacia Dopudja. After Fairfield starter Sarah Minice threw an illegal pitch, the runners advanced and Cox crossed the plate to extend St. John’s lead to 2-0. Dopudja singled and advanced to second on the throw, plating Montez for the third run of the game.

Lawrence (6-2) was strong in the circle, striking out two in the first inning and one in the second. She finished the game with five strikeouts, five shutout innings and just two hits allowed.

In the second inning, Amber Curry reached base with a one-out single to left field. After stealing second, Curry advanced to third on a wild pitch. Cox drove in the freshman with a sac fly to right field, pushing the Red Storm’s lead to 4-0. Cox and Montez teamed up for a big defensive play in the top of the third. After Fairfield’s Kristie Trifiolis reached on an error in the first at-bat of the inning. Cox fired a strike to Montez to catch Trifolis trying to get the steal at second and clear the bases with one out.

The St. John’s offense continued to surge in the fourth inning. With two outs and runners on second and third, Cox singled to right field and advanced to second on the throw, bringing home Durning for STJ’s fifth run of the game. Montez followed with a three-run homer to straightaway center to give St. John’s the 8-0 advantage.

Cox finished the game 2-of-3 with one double, three RBI and two runs scored. Montez and Curry were impressive in their Red Storm Field debuts. Montez went 1-of-3 with one home run, three RBI and two runs plated. Curry was 2-of-3 with two runs scored and one stolen base.

Sarah Minice took the loss for Fairfield (7-9) after allowing eight runs (seven earned ) and 10 hits over four frames.

The Red Storm will next play Hoftstra on March 24 at Red Storm Field. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.

NOTES: Chrissy Montez’s home run in the fourth was the second of her career and also her second multi-RBI round tripper as she plated a 2-RBI homer against South Alabama (Feb. 26)…The five-inning shutout victory was the second of the year for Kat Lawrence as the junior pitcher tossed five scoreless frames in STJ’s 8-0 win over Liberty in the season opener… The Red Storm benefited from a slight change to the batting order as Montez hit fourth, Kristi Cady hit fifth and Stacia Dopudja operated out of the six spot. The trio combined to go 3-of-8 with four RBI, two runs and one walk in the new order.